Emporium Bistro Restaurant, Bridgetown

On a recent trip to Bridgetown, we chose to dine at a small cosy restaurant, the Emporium Bistro situated on the main drag in town. The restaurant is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and every time we went past, there were plenty of punters partaking in one form or another.

The dinner menu of Emporium Bistro is either a classical country gastronomic delight, or a sumptuous tapas style menu. On our way to being seated, we gazed over diners shoulders at the marvel that was being served up on their plates.

We opted for the tapas menu, just a few to start and then possible a main course or two, leaving plenty of space for dessert as always. To start, we ordered the soy and ginger duck shanks, garlic mushrooms, grilled eggplant with tomato vinaigrette and the scallop and chorizo skewers.

The smell of roasted duck legs int the sweet ginger soy was too die for. Diving into the sticky legs, the duck meat, firm but juicy gently parted from the bone. The eggplant, soft and moist was complimented by the vinaigrette, leaving the garlic mushrooms to fend for themselves. Scallop and chorizo skewers with a lime and garliccy aioli were last on the plate, and by far the standout winner…..so we had a second helping!

After a suitable breather, we opted to stay with the tapas rather than attach a main course. Wine was flowing and the tapas style menu lent itself well to the evening.

Round two of tapas was patatas bravas, scallop and chorizo skewers again and the Spanish sticky pork ribs.

Patatas bravas, white potatoes in random shapes and sized, fried and sprinkled in Mediterranean spices. Unfortunately too many raw spices which over powered the potatoes leaving the mouth dry with spice powder. The Spanish sticky ribs were soft and tasty, probably cooked a little too long as they had lost their juiciness and sticky texture. Scallops…..again a standout winner.

Our delightful and very attentive waitress convinced us to try some desserts either from the menu or from the cake counter. We opted for churros with a huge bowl of molten dark chocolate sauce. A plate arrived of hot and freshly cooked churros generously speckled with cinnamon sugar. No time to waste we devoured the plate, sauce and sugar, washed down with a Frangelico affogato.

WOW, what a gem, and hidden all the way down in Bridgetown.

Dinner for two incl two bottles of wine – $160, rating 4/5 and a well-deserved double thumbs up.